"Vem Pra Rua" and the Soundtrack of Brazil Protests

June 22, 2013

Page 2 of 2

The timing was perfect – just after violent police crackdowns had stirred up a lot of anger, and day before Monday's truly massive protests. And it had a "do-it-yourself" message that made a lot of sense to protesters. The video went fairly viral in Brazil, racking up half a million views in a few days.

Leoni is a well-known name in Brazil and a veteran of the country's '80s rock and roll revolution, often known as B-Rock. He played in the bands Kid Abelha and Heróis da Resitencia, and had a syrupy hit in 1993 with "Garotos." He says he didn't write "As coisas não caem do céu" originally for the uprising, but about his own apathy.

"I wrote it about being stuck and not participating in the political life of the country, and suddenly there was this movement," says Leoni. "I don't think artists can lead the people and tell them what to think – it's more a question of listening, of giving people the poetic weapons to communicate what they are trying to say."

At the start of the video, Leoni writes, "This is my homage to a generation that has taught me that things don't fall from the sky."

I asked Brazilians that have been going to the protests what people have been chanting, and it's no surprise that there are a lot of different chants. One goes popular one goes: "What a coincidence/ No police, no violence." But some of the most common ones have been Brazilian nursery rhymes, with the lyrics tweaked into pointed political messages.

There's one popular (and depressing) rhyme that goes: "There was a house/ A very funny house/ It didn't have a roof/ It didn't have anything." The protesters have turned it into: "There was a country/ A very funny country/ It didn't have hospitals/ Only stadiums." The original is called "A Casa" and it's by Vinicius de Moraes.

Not every musician's attempts to get involved with the demonstrations have been applauded. MC Anitta, whose pop-baile funk hybrids inspire both adoration and rage in Brazil (think: Brazil's answer to Ke$ha), published alternate protest-friendly lyrics to her dance hit "Show das Poderosas" on her Instagram.

Anitta's attempts to get involved seemed to be met mostly with snickers. Meanwhile, she's become the butt of a popular internet meme going around that says, "We need to call Anitta to the protest, since her army is big and powerful." It's mostly making fun of a line in "Show das Poderosas" in which she brags about her sizeable fan-base, but hey, just imagine if her legions of teen followers hit the streets – the government wouldn't have a chance.